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Plain answers about Google, for contractors
The questions contractors type into Google about Google, their listing and getting found, answered in the first sentence and then explained. No jargon, no pitch until the end.
Showing up on Google
Why the next town over never sees you, and what Google is doing with the pages you already have.
Why don't I show up on Google in the next town over?
Google gives every town its own list, built from websites that say in plain words they work there.
Read the answerWhy does my website only show up when I search my own name?
Your name is the one search Google has already matched to you. The searches that bring work are a service and a town, and those go to a page.
Read the answerWhy does my competitor show up above me on Google?
Google's help page names three things behind the order: relevance, distance and prominence. Here's what each one means for a contractor.
Read the answerIs my website showing up on Google?
How to check for yourself, town by town, and what it means when your site's there for your name and nowhere else.
Read the answerWhat is local SEO for contractors?
Showing up when someone in a town searches for your work, not just where your shop is. Three things, and none of them are ads.
Read the answerHow do I get a new page on Google?
Three things get a new page found: a link to it from a page Google already has, a sitemap it can read, and time. Nothing else is a lever.
Read the answerWhat does "crawled, currently not indexed" mean?
Google read the page and decided not to keep it. What Google says about that status, what people who work on this see behind it, and what to do.
Read the answerDo I need a separate website for every town?
No. Google's spam policy names multiple sites aimed at cities as doorway abuse. One site with a real page per town is the version that holds up.
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Your Google listing
The map, the category, the towns you cover, and the address question every contractor runs into.
How do I get into the Google map pack?
The three businesses Google shows on the map before the list, and the three things that get a contractor in.
Read the answerWhat does the category on my Google Business Profile do?
It's the setting that decides which searches your listing is even eligible for. Two minutes of work, and the one most contractors get wrong.
Read the answerDo I need a Google listing for every town I work in?
No. Google's rules give you one listing per real location. Extra listings at addresses you don't staff are the fastest way to lose the one you have.
Read the answerShould my home address be on my Google listing?
If you drive to your customers, Google lets you give the address for verification and then hide it. Here's what stays visible and what doesn't.
Read the answerHow do I set up a Google Business Profile for a new business?
Claiming the listing that puts a brand new business on the map, and what Google asks for.
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Reviews
How many you need, how to ask for them inside Google's rules, and what to do when one goes badly.
How many Google reviews do I need?
About ten gets you past the point where the count itself is holding you back. After that a steady flow matters more than the total.
Read the answerHow do I ask for reviews without breaking Google's rules?
Ask everybody, the same way, with the same link, right after the job. The rules are short, and the one that catches contractors is asking only the happy ones.
Read the answerWhat do I do about a bad review?
Answer it in a day or two, calmly and specifically. Google only takes a review down when it breaks a rule, and being unhappy isn't one.
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Your website
What it has to say, what belongs on it, and why the one you put together yourself stops at your home town.
What should a new business's website say?
The words a brand new home service site needs, and the ones that cost it work.
Read the answerDo I need a website if I have a Facebook page?
Keep the page, and get a site too. The page reaches people who already follow you. The site is what a stranger searching in the next town can find.
Read the answerWhy doesn't my website builder site show up in other towns?
It's not the tool. A site built from a template usually ends up with five pages, and five pages can only be about your own town.
Read the answerShould my phone number be on my website?
Yes, on every page, as text you can tap, and matching your Google listing exactly. The mismatch is the part that quietly costs you.
Read the answerDo photos on my website help me show up on Google?
Photos sell the job to the person reading. They don't put you on a list, and the wrong ones slow the page down enough to cost you.
Read the answerShould a contractor write a blog?
Only after the pages that bring work exist. A blog is what most contractors get sold instead of a page for each job in each town.
Read the answerDoes my website need to be fast?
Fast enough that somebody on a truck's signal doesn't leave. Google measures it, and it says a slower page with the right answer still wins.
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AI answers
What the answer boxes pull from, whether they take the search away, and whether to let one write your pages.
Will my business show up in AI answers?
What Google's AI answers, ChatGPT and the rest pull from, and how a contractor's page gets quoted for a job in a town.
Read the answerWill AI answers replace Google search?
Not for the search that brings you work. The answer box shows up most on how and why questions, and least on somebody looking for a company to call.
Read the answerShould I use AI to write my website?
Google doesn't care what wrote a page. It cares whether the page is worth keeping, and a machine that has never been to your town can't make one.
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What it costs, and who owns it
The published ranges, the web address, moving a site, and what you keep if you leave.
What does a contractor website cost?
The published ranges for a site, the town pages, local SEO, hosting and a lead app, bought separately, and what they add up to a month.
Read the answerWhat does a domain name cost and who should own it?
A small yearly fee, paid to the company you register it with, and it should be in your name. Not your web guy's, not your nephew's.
Read the answerHow do I move my website without losing my rankings?
Send every old page to the page that replaces it, keep the words, and tell Search Console. The move that goes wrong is the one that lands everybody on the home page.
Read the answerWhat happens to my website if I cancel?
The site stays up to the end of the month you've paid for, then comes down. Your web address, your photos and your leads stay yours.
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Paying someone
Ads, directories, and how to check what a company selling you search work is telling you.
Should I buy Google Ads or Local Services Ads?
If your trade is on Google's eligible list, the per-lead ads are usually the better first dollar. Neither one moves the list underneath them.
Read the answerDo directory listings help me show up on Google?
A short list, done by hand, once. What matters is that your name, address and phone match everywhere, not how many sites you're on.
Read the answerHow do I check what an SEO company tells me?
Google publishes its own advice for this: check any recommendation against Google's guidance, and ask whether they can point at it. Four questions do most of the work.
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Just starting out
For a business that opened this week and has no website yet.
Do I need a website before I open?
What a website does for a business that hasn't taken a job yet, and what it costs to wait.
Read the answerHow does a new contractor get customers online?
The three things a brand new contractor needs before the phone rings from a search.
Read the answerHow long until a new business shows up on Google?
What happens in the first week, the first month and the first half year of a new site.
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What a shared lead costs you
Put in what you pay per lead, how many you get, how many pick up and how many you win, and see what one booked job costs. Run your own numbers, free, with a PDF and a link to share.
Questions about the service itself
Do I own the website, can I keep my domain, how fast do you make changes, what does it cost. Those are on the common questions page.
Keep reading
Ready to show up
in every town you work in?
Your site can be live in about ten days. After that, the towns you drive to can find you.